A 5-3 loss to the Langley Rivermen in front of a packed house of almost 2,000 young future fans is not the result the general manager of the Coquitlam Express was hoping for.
And Tali Campbell vows changes “will be made.”
The loss was Coquitlam’s sixth in a row and a less than desirable result for the team’s first home game in a month played before school kids from across Coquitlam in a special promotion funded by Westside Pest Control and Great Canadian Oil Change.
“The last six games have not been acceptable,” Campbell said. “Other teams have gotten stronger and we haven’t.”
The return to familiar confines of the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex went off the rails quickly for the Express, as Langley’s Vitaly Levyy scored just 16 seconds into the game off a bizarre play near the Rivermen bench where the puck seemed to exit the rink and bounce off the helmet of a player seated on the bench. No call was made and Levyy was able to take advantage of the momentary confusion to skate into Coquitlam’s zone and squeeze a shot that trickled between the pads of goalie Brady Smith.
Owen Kim doubled Langley’s lead less than nine minutes later and Levyy’s second goal of the afternoon, 3:36 into the second period, increased the visitor’s advantage to 3-0.
Gavin Giebrecht gave the kids something to cheer about when he connected on a power play at 8:24 of the middle frame and a shorthanded goal by Mateo Dixon — his ninth of the season — pulled the Express to within a goal heading into the third period.
But that’s as good as it got.
Langley’s Luke Munroe scored with a man advantage and Lavyy completed his hat trick before Michael Rubin was able to find the net for the Express to make the score 5-3 with less than three minutes left in regulation time.
Coquitlam had a distinct advantage in play, outshooting the Rivermen 47-20. But converting those shots into goals has been difficult said Campbell.
“We’ve had a stretch of a bunch of games in a short period of time but that can’t be an excuse,” he said.
The Express host the Powell River Kings on Saturday, 7 p.m., at Poirier. The game will be preceded by a special ceremony to retire the jersey of former player Mark Soares, who helped lead the team to an RBC Cup national Junior A championship when it was based in Burnaby.
